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Presence
Zazen is acceptance. We can’t accept while we remain as a self-conscious self, a separate self. I think you’ve all probably been sitting long enough to know how persistent thoughts are…. What we need is to recognise that our thinking … Continue reading →
Thoughts on putting Anatta into practice or Don’t Believe Everything You Think
For some time I have found myself reflecting on the Buddha’s Teaching of anatta or ‘not-self’ and how it might be applied in daily life—willingly opening ourselves to radically changing our perspective on ourself. In my experience, a good start … Continue reading →
Confusion: cures and causes
When I was the Prior at the Eugene Buddhist Priory several people asked me about a sense of confusion regarding their meditation practice. These are some thoughts I had at the time, revised slightly for inclusion in this issue of … Continue reading →
What is real, what is true?
Two words about which we are often confused and thereby cause suffering for ourselves and others, are ‘real’ and ‘true’. We often don’t notice that we take them to be synonymous; what is real is true. But is this conclusion … Continue reading →
Imperfect grief
I recently went to buy a new rug for my flat. This flat is the home that I shared with Jan, my wife of thirty-five years, until her recent death after a long illness. As part of the process of … Continue reading →
A Bodhisattva’s perspective on social relations
This has been a turbulent period in our history and there have been extraordinary changes in 2016 and 2017. We are all affected in how we engage or don’t engage in the society in which we live. Our interactions with … Continue reading →
Fish and ball
Many years ago, at the Shasta Abbey Gift Shop, I saw a fish with a ball in its throat. It was a pendant one could wear around one’s neck. I thought, “Why would anyone want one of these? Recently a … Continue reading →
